Now that the MLB regular season is over, teams that are not in the postseason begin to prepare for the 2014 baseball season. From now until next February, there will be moves made as trades and free agent signings will combine to form the new team. In regards to the New York Mets, (like all other teams), they have 40 players on their roster. As rosters expand on September 1st, teams call up players as they are allowed to do, up to 40. To get more players up, several teams place several players on the 60 day disabled list so they do not count on the 40 man roster. Players are subtracted after the season ends. All players eligible for free agency file on the day they are allowed to. This subtracts free agents off the roster. Usually at the same time, all 60 day DL players are added back to the 40 man roster. And to create space for new players who will be acquired via trade and free agency, teams generally remove players from the 40 man roster that they either no longer want or think are no longer worthy of holding a 40 man roster spot. Including the eight players the Mets have on the 60 day DL: Johan Santana, Ike Davis, Bobby Parnell, Scott Rice, Jeremy Hefner, Matt Harvey, Jennry Mejia and Josh Edgin, the Mets have a total of 48 players on their current 40 man roster. According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, the Mets have 6 players who are eligible for free agency: Frank Francisco, LaTroy Hawkins, Pedro Feliciano, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Byrdak and David Aardsma. Two players: Johan Santana and Aaron Harang have team options for the 2014 season. Assuming the club options are not picked up for Santana and Harang, that will leave the Mets roster at 40. I am not sure if Carlos Torres qualifies for free agency, so I will assume he does not. If so, that puts the Mets roster at 39. Next comes the difficult part. It now needs to be determined what players of these remaining 40 should be removed to make room for said new players. I set up two categories: one for players I would remove and another for players that I would keep, but could be removed. I would remove pitchers Sean Henn and Greg Burke, infielders Omar Quintanilla and Jordany Valdespin, outfielders Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Mike Baxter and catcher Anthony Recker. Both Henn and Burke can be brought back on minor league deals. Valdespin has worn out his welcome and Baxter and Nieuwenhuis have not been good enough players to warrant a 40 man spot. Quintanilla is a tough decision because he has been the Mets starting SS. But, I would expect to see the Mets upgrade at that position and it would not make much sense to keep Q as a backup. He provides little value on the bench. Similar to Burke and Henn, the Mets may be able to bring him back with an invitation to spring training. Recker had a couple moments, but he does not warrant a 40 man spot. Once again, the Mets can sign him to a minor league contract if they wish to bring him back next season. There are a handful of players who the Mets may decide to remove. This includes pitchers Scott Atchison and Robert Carson and OF Andrew Brown. If either of the three were removed, I wouldn't object, but prefer to hold onto them for now. Other possibilities are RHP Torres, LHP Scott Rice, catcher Juan Centeno and infielders Zach Lutz and Wilfredo Tovar. All four help the Mets with depth at their respective positions, so I would not consider removing any of them. I would also hold onto 1B Josh Satin, RHP Hansell Robles and OF Cesar Puello. With the 7 players off the 40, the Mets would go into the offseason with 33 players, with the possibility to get the number to 30 if they choose to cut Atchison, Carson and/ or Brown.

It is easy for fans to take for granted the job of a late inning reliever. A closer is responsible for getting the last three outs, while there is generally a pitcher responsible for getting the three outs in the 8th. The game has evolved to a point where specialists have their place in the 6th, 7th and 8th innings. The loogy (left hand pitcher brought in to get only one out) has become more essential to the bullpen than ever before. In fact, name one team that does not use one. While there are some right handed pitchers who specifically come in to get right handed hitters out, bringing in a righty to face a righty depends on the team's manager. Some managers do it a lot more than others. In regards to a LOOGY, many credit Tony LaRussa for its usage. Some vilify him for it, while others praise him. I am sure if we did enough research, we can go back further, but LaRussa started that philosophy with the White Sox in the early to mid 1980s. Guys like Jerry Don Gleaton, Juan Agosto and Kevin Hickey thrived in that role at different times. He also had an older Sparky Lyle and at times, used Jerry Koosman to get one lefty hitter out. Later on, with the Athletics, LaRussa used Rick Honeycutt to perfection, but he also had guys like Greg Caderet and Joe Klink. Currently in the game, we all have our favorites, whether it is the Yankees Boone Logan, Sean Burnett of the Angels, Javier Lopez or Jeremy Affeldt of the Giants, Antonio Bastardo of the Phillies or Troy Patton of the Orioles (enter additional name here...). One thing they all have in common is the fact that they either struggled early on in their career or made the move to LOOGY later on. In other words, none of these pitchers came directly from their progression in AAA to the major leagues to be a left handed specialist. You find that more pitchers are being brought up that way, but many have a hard time making the adjustment to the big leagues. The Mets have two left hand pitchers who are taking turns shuttling between the Mets and AAA Las Vegas. Josh Edgin was a late inning reliever, a closer, coming up through the Mets system. He was pitching against lefty and rightys in A and AA and it wasn't until spring training of 2012 when the Mets started using him as a LOOGY. Robert Carson was a starting pitcher two years ago, and not only has his role changed as a reliever, but not he is automatically expected to come into games and get one left hand hitter out. No wonder he has struggled. But, if you throw left handed, you should automatically be a specialist, right? I disagree. Some of the best left handed relievers are guys like Jim Kaat, Jesse Orosco, Mike Stanton, Eddie Guardaro, Arthur Rhodes, Darren Oliver, Pedro Feliciano. Though each of their experiences are different, one thing they all have in common is the fact that they were, and in Oliver and maybe Feliciano's case, are veteran pitchers and were when they took on that role. Prior to that, of course, Kaat was a very good starting pitcher and Stanton (with the Braves) was an 8th-9th inning guy and Guardaro and Orosco were closers. The others bounced around until they figured out the art. To me, that is the pitcher I would look for to take on that role. Not a guy just up from the minor leagues. The premium for left handed specialist has kept teams for using them as closers. In fact, only Cincinnati's Aroldis Chapman, Kansas City's Tim Collins, Colorado's Rex Brothers and Minnesota's Glen Perkins currently throw from the left side and close. (Pardon me if I missed somebody). Even Chapman a couple years ago had to battle to get that job as the Reds wanted him to kind of take on the role of a LOOGY. Though they are both hurt now, the Braves had the luxury of having two dominant left handers in Jonny Venters and Eric O'Flaherty. This gave them the opportunity to use one for a batter or two (mostly O'Flaherty) and the other for the 8th inning. Prior to their injuries, they were the one exception to what I have said. The fact that a pitcher pitches left handed does not make them a good left handed reliever, especially when the responsibility is to only get left hand hitters out. The best left handed hitters in the game know the makeup of a LOOGY and in many cases, can get a hit 1 of every 4 or 5 times against one. Experience has a lot to do with pitchers who have thrived in that role. Greg Swindell made that transition at age 32, and added 6 years to his big league career. It had something to do with the fact that he knew how to pitch to leftys, something he developed with experience. Honeycutt at age 34, took on the role and pitched until he was 43. Both were starters but had the understanding of what it takes to master that role. How can you expect a 22-23 year old pitcher to come up and only get one batter out every game? It takes mental toughness that many rookies and minor leaguers simply do not have at that age. So please stop with the thought that anybody that throws left handed can simply take on that role.

The first question I expect to be asked is "How can you be a Mets fan and pick them to do so poorly?" Listen, there are few people that want to see them do better than myself but the major reason is the fact that most other teams have done more to address their needs for the short term. The Mets future may look great because of Zack Wheeler and Travis d'Arnaud, but it does nothing to effect the present. For what it is worth, the teams next on my list at #26 and #25, finish with one and two more wins, respectively. The major reason I think the team will have problems is the fact that they went 74-88 last season with RA Dickey going 20-6. Without Dickey, the Mets could have been 28 games under .500. I have a hard time seeing a Mets pitcher make up for what Dickey did last season in 2013. Add in the fact that the team did little to address a dreaded OF situation, this could get bad real fast. The Mets first offseason under GM Sandy Alderson netted the Mets very little. They signed free agents like Chris Young, Chris Capuano, Tim Byrdak, Taylor Buchholz and Ronny Paulino, as well as Willie Harris and Scott Hairston. All to very inexpensive contracts, where Capuano, Byrdak and Hairston exceeded expectations. The Mets spent the next offseason essentially making all their moves in one day, trading OF Angel Pagan to San Francisco for RHP Ramon Ramirez and OF Andres Torres. All three now play for the Giants. The Mets also signed RHPs Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch and later added SS Ronny Cedeno to the mix. Hairston (.263, 20, 57) and Young both returned and were important members of the 2012 team. Francisco Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes were all gone by the end of 2011, with Dickey, Hairston and Jason Bay joining them after 2012. As far as the Mets 2012 offseason, it started with the parting of ways with Bay, which was inevitable. The Dickey trade gives the Mets d'Arnaud, as well as John Buck, who in my opinion is still an upgrade over Josh Thole (.234, 1, 21 in 2012). Shawn Marcum is a good signing, even though he is coming off an injury riddled 2012 season. He should provide innings and averages about 12-13 wins in a full season. Brandon Lyon essentially replaced Rauch (3-7, 3.59, in 73 games) and showed a higher K per 9 IP than any other point in his career. The Mets hopes sit on what they can get out of Johan Santana, who is unlikely to pitch opening day for the Mets. Offensively, the Mets brought in former OF prospect Collin Cowgill in a trade with the Oakland Athletics for minor league 3B Jeffre Marte. Cowgill had an unbelievable 2011 season at AAA Reno (Diamondbacks), hitting .354, 13, 70 with 95 RS in 98 games. He came down to earth last season, hitting just .254, 4, 31 in 63 games for AAA Sacramento. However, he is off to a great start this spring with 8 hits in his first 16 ABs. The Mets also brought in OF Marlon Byrd on a minor league contract, fresh off his 50 game suspension for the use of PEDs. Byrd is also off a 3 year, $15 million contract he signed with the Cubs. Both are expected to be on the opening day roster and possibly in the starting lineup. Other interesting signings are INF Brandon Hicks, who is expected to make the team as a utility player and OF Jamie Hoffman, who could be a sleeper. Farmhand Matt Den Dekker and minor league free agent Andrew Brown should also get strong consideration. Cowgill and Byrd, if they make the team, could be part of a platoon with LHs Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Mike Baxter. Nieuwenhuis is already hurt, giving Hoffman and den Dekker a chance to win a job outright. Lucas Duda (.239, 15, 57 in 121 games in 2012) gets another chance to play everyday, this time in LF. With Buck behind the plate, the Mets are set with their infield of Ike Davis, Daniel Murphy, Ruben Tejada and David Wright. The lineup I would go with is Byrd/Baxter RF, Murphy 2B, Wright 3B, Davis 1B, Duda LF, Buck C, Cowgill/Nieuwenhuis CF, Tejada SS. Obviously, Tejada can move up in the order to bat 1st or 2nd, as I expect manager Terry Collins to ride the hot hand. As far as the bench, I expect the Mets to pursue a trade of either Justin Turner or Jordany Valdespin, while I prefer the Mets to hold on to Valdespin. Hicks is likely to win the job as super utility player and two spots are left: one for an infielder and one for the backup catcher. The catcher is likely to be free agent Anthony Recker, who could be better offensively than some fans may think. Landon Powell comes over to provide some depth. The Mets starting rotation will have a spot to battle for if Santana is not ready to go opening day. It is best for the Mets to get Santana to full health before running him out there, so hopefully once he returns, he has no further setbacks. Jonathon Niese is set to pitch opening day, assuming Santana is not ready to pitch. (Manager Collins already announced Santana would pitch opening day if healthy). Marcum probably pitches the second game, followed by Matt Harvey. Dillon Gee returns from his blood clot injury to pitch the 4th game, followed by either Jeremy Hefner, Collin McHugh or Jenrry Mejia. The bullpen is also missing its top piece, closer Frank Francisco. He is unlikely to be ready opening day, making Bobby Parnell the closer. The bullpen could be much improved with Lyon, Latroy Hawkins, Scott Atchinson and younger pitchers like Josh Edgin, Jeurys Familia and Robert Carson. Greg Burke is a pitcher the Mets like, so expect to see him on the OD roster. LHPs Pedro Feliciano and Byrdak will be part of the mix if healthy, as well as LHP Scott Rice. In my opinion, the Mets bullpen should look a little better than it did the past two seasons. Of course, Wheeler and d'Arnaud will be anticipated as soon as possible, likely no earlier than the end of May. If the team struggles, they will clearly turn to the two to get some fans in the seats. For those of whom expect better than 69-93: Where do the Mets get the additional 14 games over .500 they got from Dickey last season? Can you trust the Mets to run three dependable options in their OF every day? What will happen to make this team perform exceedingly well? I predict the opposite of the last two seasons, they Mets have a bad first half, but finish very strong (not strong enough to make a serious postseason run). They will finish 69-93, forth place in the NL East. Vegas has their over/ under at 74, so I am predicting the under. As a Mets fan, I am rooting for the opposite of 93-69, but there is clearly no logic in that thought.